by London Casey
“He’s got him,” Blaine said.
Gaige got off the big guy and backed away. He wiped his face and motioned for the guy to stand back up.
“What the fuck?” Blaine yelled.
“He wants to knock him down with his fists,” Nate said. “Honor.”
Honor.
It was so fucking sexy. Emily was wet. Really wet. She touched her knees together and couldn’t believe the gush feeling between her legs.
Gaige looked up and his eyes met with Emily’s. It felt like the entire world had come to a stop. Gaige had his hands at his sides. His knuckles were covered in blood. His chiseled body glistened with sweat. There was blood on his lip and a cut above his left eye.
He was the hottest guy Emily had ever seen in her life. Her mind instantly began to think of all the things she would do to him… for him… with him…
The big guy got to his feet and put his fists up.
The fight raged on.
They took swings at each other, landing blow after blow, working their way around the circle. The punches had a sickening sound to them, but never once did Gaige step away or back down. He was right there, right up against a guy twice his size.
When the big guy started to land a few punches at a time, Gaige put his hands down and accepted them. The big guy then hesitated as though he was either confused or impressed. Gaige swung so fast and hit him square in the nose. It looked like the guy’s nose exploded. Gaige then made his final move, attacking the big guy.
A left, a right, another right, a left.
Emily unfolded her arms and caught herself making fists at the bottom of her shirt. She was breathing fast.
“Now it’s over,” Nate said to her. “Watch.”
Gaige continued the attack. The big guy was wobbly. He threw a fist but missed Gaige. Gaige then hit him in the ribs and gut. It was obvious that he wanted to give up, but Emily knew how these fights worked. There was no giving up. The fight ended only when someone hit the ground.
Gaige came across with a right hook. Emily swore she could see every sweating muscle of his body flex as his fist connected with the other guy’s face one last time. The guy stood up, stiffened for a second, and then collapsed to the ground. When he hit, there was a small puff of dirt and dust.
The fight was over.
Gaige lifted a fist in victory and the crowed cheered. He looked over at the big man on the ground and smiled.
So badass.
Three guys grabbed the big guy on the ground and dragged him from the circle. Two more men hurried into the circle, ready for the next fight.
Emily couldn’t give a shit about the next fight though. Her eyes were locked onto Gaige. The closer he got the more defined his muscles became. At one point Emily swore she could even smell him. When he was close enough, Blaine reached down and took his hand, pulling him up on the table. He hugged Gaige and laughed.
“Fucking right, brother,” Blaine said.
Gaige turned to Nate and he handed Gaige rings, chains, a white t-shirt, and a leather jacket. Gaige put the rings on first, then the chains that attached to his jeans.
“That was a big dude,” Nate said. “You’ve got balls, man.”
“Fuck that guy,” Gaige said. “I’m not afraid of anyone.”
“Well, you two assholes cleared me a lot of cash tonight,” Blaine said. He had his arm back around Rachel and he pulled her close and kissed her.
Gaige put his t-shirt on and it instantly clung to his body. The sweat showed. When he turned, Emily saw the blood seeping through.
“Who’s this?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Nate said. “Friend of Blaine’s.”
“Really?” Gaige asked.
“No,” Emily managed to say. “I’m with my friend. She’s…”
Blaine had Rachel lifted and her legs were wrapped tight around him. They were kissing like they hadn’t seen each other in years.
“She looks just his type,” Gaige said. “Hope she knows what she’s in store for with Blaine.”
“What’s that?” Emily asked.
Gaige leaned close. Emily could taste his breath. She was so turned on.
“He’s a sick fuck,” Gaige said. “A real sick fuck.”
Blaine snapped his fingers and broke the kiss with Rachel. “Hey, cool it, bro. Don’t scare her away. I’m working something here.”
“Working something?” Emily asked.
“Yeah,” Blaine said. “I can fit both of you on my motorcycle. We’ll ditch these fights and go for a ride.”
“Yeah, right,” Emily said.
“No, I don’t think so,” Gaige said.
To Emily’s shock, Gaige put his hand to Emily’s. She gasped and then whimpered.
“I think I’ll keep this one right here,” Gaige said and smiled.
“Fair enough, bro,” Blaine said.
“Look at this,” Nate said.
The fight in the circle started but nobody had thrown a punch yet. Nate pointed someone out as they pushed through the crowd.
“Hey, that was the guy from before,” Emily said.
Gaige squeezed her hand tight. “Better stay close to me, beautiful.”
five.
From the second Gaige saw the woman’s eyes he knew he would talk to her. Hell, talking would just be the first step in a long, enjoyable night. But he first had to take care of business with that big asshole. Gaige could have ended the fight when he had the guy on his back, but out of respect, he let the guy back up. The asshole should have just stayed down.
Now Gaige stood holding the woman’s hand, watching a pathetic fight in the circle.
“What’s your name, beautiful?” he asked.
“Emily.”
“I like that.”
“I like your name too. Gaige.”
“Thanks¸” Gaige said.
“Your cut is bleeding,” Emily said. She reached up and touched above Gaige’s eyes. She showed him the blood.
“Little blood never killed anyone,” Gaige said.
“I guess not.”
Fuck, her brown eyes really were beautiful. Gaige reminded himself to give Blaine a pat on the back for actually bringing something worth enjoying for once. Normally he brought the craziest shit around. Most of it was hired help though, women who were paid to enact some of the sickest fantasies Blaine could think of.
Gaige looked at Blaine kissing Emily’s friend. His tongue was everywhere. It was nasty and sloppy.
“Just for the record, beautiful,” Gaige said, “I don’t kiss like that.”
“No?” Emily asked. “Then how do you kiss?”
Gaige touched Emily’s chin with his free hand. He watched her bite her lip for a second. Yeah, she wanted it.
“I’m trouble,” Gaige said. “Just so you know.”
“Maybe I like trouble,” Emily said.
“I don’t like chicks hanging around though. You come home with me tonight, you go home tomorrow morning.”
“I may not even be here all night.”
Gaige smiled. “You think you’re tough, don’t you?”
“What about you?”
“Beautiful, I’m the toughest guy you’ll ever meet. I’ll fucking fight anyone here to get to you. How’s that sound?”
“I’d rather you just kiss me.”
Gaige had to hand it to Emily. She knew how to handle herself. Most women would be swooned. Their knees bent. Flustered. Not sure what to say. Gaige was curious about what was really hiding behind her pretty brown eyes.
Gaige lowered his mouth to Emily’s. He was just a short centimeter away when he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder.
“Fuck, we’ve got a problem.”
It was Nate.
“What’s wrong?” Gaige asked.
He turned, looked, and knew trouble was about to explode right in the middle of the fight. The guy pushing through the crowd made it to the circle. He pulled a gun out and the entire crowd started to try and get away. Two pulls of
the trigger and the two men fell.
All hell broke loose.
“We gotta go,” Nate said. “Fuck.”
Blaine stopped kissing Emily’s friend and stared at the scene.
Gaige shook his head in disbelief and anger as a small crew took to the circle, all holding guns. When they spotted Gaige and Nate, they pointed and one of the men shouted something in another language.
“Fuck,” Gaige said. “Retaliation.”
Nate took out his gun and shot. The men then began to unload their guns.
Gaige grabbed Emily and pushed her to the ground. She flew back and crashed to her ass. Gaige drew his gun and started to shoot. No way in fucking hell some assholes were going to start shit like this and not get anything in return.
A bullet hit one of the guys and he stumbled back.
“We have to get out of here, bro,” Gaige said. “This is going to…”
The bullets came from everywhere. Gaige jumped off the table, Nate by his side. There was no telling who was actually shooting right now or what their target was. This was turning into chaos.
Motorcycle engines started to fire up as crews tried to get the fuck out of there.
Emily screamed and Gaige looked up. Blaine was still standing on the table holding Emily’s friend. He was shooting his gun. Gaige grabbed his leg.
“Blaine! We have to go!”
“I got this,” Blaine yelled. “Fucking assholes.”
The gunfire continued and Gaige heard the familiar sound of bullets piercing flesh. Blaine started to jump back and then fell from the table.
“Blaine,” Nate said.
Blaine’s eye were wide. He looked at Gaige and smiled. “I’m alive, bro.”
Then Gaige saw at least a dozen bullet holes through Emily’s friend’s back. He turned toward Emily as a look of horror spread across her face. Her mouth was open, her bottom lip quivering.
“Fuck,” Gaige said. He grabbed Emily by the arm. “Come on, Emily, we have to go right now. This is going to get worse before it ends.”
“Rachel,” Emily said. “Rachel… she’s shot…”
Nate stepped behind Emily. “Right now, brother. Make your choice with her.”
“Come on,” Gaige commanded. “Now.”
Emily looked at Gaige and nodded. He lifted her to her feet. She looked at Rachel and Blaine again.
“Go guys,” Blaine called out. “I’ll be fine.”
“Blaine…,” Gaige said.
“No, just go.” Blaine hugged the dead woman on top of him.
It made Gaige cringe wondering what kind of insane thoughts were running through Blaine’s mind right then.
“She’s so warm,” Blaine said.
“Oh, fuck,” Nate said. “Come on.”
Gaige started to move, but Emily kept looking back at her dead friend and felt like dead weight.
“Hey,” Gaige called out. He shook Emily. “If you don’t start fucking walking, I’m going to leave you here.”
“Okay,” Emily said. “Sorry.”
Gaige hurried to his motorcycle and handed Emily his helmet. “Put this on and hold tight.”
Gunfire continued.
Gaige started his bike and looked back to the table. He saw the men from the circle standing there, machine gun like rifles resting on their shoulders. He feared for Blaine, who was still on the ground with the dead woman on top of him.
Nate took the lead and Gaige peeled out behind him.
The men on the table started to shoot but the bullets missed Gaige and Nate.
They sped down the alley and cut out into traffic in a blur of dangerous moves. Car tires squealed, horns honked, and Gaige and Nate both maneuvered through the evening traffic.
Once far enough from the junkyard, Gaige and Nate ended up next to each other, riding off into the night. The open road in front of them and a destruction of hell behind them.
Welcome to the life of the Back Down Devil Motorcycle Club.
six.
Emily closed her eyes, put her head against Gaige’s back, and wished everything she had just seen would all go away. The body of her best friend, her back riddled with bullets. That scummy biker guy - Blaine - holding her tight on the ground, acting like he didn’t give a shit about her. Of course he didn’t give a shit about her. Bikers didn’t give a shit about anything except themselves and their clubs.
Which made Emily wonder why Gaige was offering her a ride out of the junkyard. The sick cuts left and right on the motorcycle were enough to make Emily want to vomit. At any given second she thought the bike was going to drop and they would slide under a car or truck. It didn’t surprise Emily that Gaige could handle the motorcycle as well as he did, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t afraid the entire time.
When she didn’t think of the two wheeled beast moving at an obscene high rate of speed she could only then think about Rachel. The more she thought about Rachel the more she had to face the fact that her best friend was dead for no reason. Bullets took her life and she did nothing to deserve those bullets.
Emily finally lifted her head just in time to see the see the motorcycle in front of her hang a right as a gate opened. They rode into another compound, this one with a long line of motorcycles and a collection of cars. There was a garage and an old building that read BDD EXPORTS.
The motorcycle in front, ridden by the tall, thick guy, Nate, stopped and he backed into his spot. Gaige got in front of Nate and performed the same action. The motorcycles then stopped. Nate climbed off his bike and stood with his hands in fists, obviously waiting for Gaige to make a move. When Gaige tilted the bike, Emily had no choice but to get off or else she would have fallen.
Gaige walked to the front of his motorcycle and stood for a second. He ran a hand through his hair and then looked back at the building.
“We need a meeting,” he said.
“Yeah,” Nate said. “Want me to call Miller?”
“You fucking better,” Gaige said. “He’s on a run, but we need him back to the table. This shit can’t go without something happening. That was a fucking ambush.”
“I was there, brother,” Nate said. “What about…”
Nate nodded toward Emily. When she had both sets of eyes upon her, she grew worried. Would they kill her? She was a witness to something very serious, wasn’t she? Not only had she seen illegal fights and gambling, she had been the witness to a shootout and a murder.
“Let me talk to her,” Gaige said. He grabbed Nate by the shoulder. “I’ll be okay. Go in the office and call Miller. Head up to the clubhouse and see who’s there. We need to round this up fast and make a decision. I don’t want these fuckers to think they got to us.”
“They think Blaine is dead,” Nate said.
“Hopefully,” Gaige said.
Emily’s lips quivered. Blaine survived because Rachel had been used a human shield, taking all those bullets to her back. Without warning. Without need.
“It’s not fair,” Emily finally said. Her entire body started to shake. “It’s not fair…”
“You better get to that,” Nate said.
He hugged Gaige and then walked away, the leather chains dangling from his jeans clanking together.
Emily saw Gaige turn to face her. His eyes and face looked sympathetic, but she knew this part. It was part of the life. The life that Emily didn’t want. The life that she ran from before. The life that Rachel never knew anything about.
“Beautiful, I need you to look at me,” Gaige said.
“It’s not fair,” Emily said again.
“Emily…”
“She didn’t get it. She wouldn’t listen to me. She thought it was a game. She thought it was fun.”
“Listen to me,” Gaige said. “I’m sorry for what happened back there. That was retaliation on the club. That will never happen again.”
Gaige put his hand out Emily stared at it. She noted the size of his hand. She wondered how many people he had hurt with that hand. How many times that han
d hit other people’s faces or pulled a trigger.
She slowly lifted her gaze to Gaige.
“Look, I’m not here to play fucking games, beautiful,” Gaige said. “I took you to save you. I could have left you back there in that fucking mess. I’m doing you a favor and trying to help you.”
“Fuck you,” Emily said.
“Yeah? Is that what you want to say to me right now?”
“Fuck… you…”
Gaige took his hand away, but then came at Emily. She didn’t even flinch as her body was still in shock from what had happened. Gaige had her by the waist and lifted her onto a metal railing. When she turned her head, she saw a massive drop off above more garage bays. If Gaige let her go, she would crack her skull open and probably break her neck.
But Gaige didn’t let her go. He held her tight at her waist and he shook her.
“Fuck, beautiful, snap out of it,” Gaige commanded. “If you’re going to act like this, I’m taking you somewhere. I’ll take you the fuck home. I’ll take you to the fucking police station. I’ll take you to the fucking hospital. Is that what you want?”
Emily shook her head. She looked in Gaige’s eyes again and in the darkness she swore she could see them glowing at her.
“This is where we need to start some kind of trust, Emily,” Gaige said.
Emily put her hands to the railing and gripped it. It was cool. Her hands were sweating and when she moved her hands she could feel small slivers of paint chipping away.
“Can we do that?” Gaige asked.
Emily wasn’t sure what to do. Could she trust this man? This biker? This really sexy biker?
“I will help you,” Gaige said. “I promise, Emily. I will find the man who did this and I will… take care of it.”
“Will you kill him?” Emily asked. The question made her stomach queasy, but strangely it turned her on.
Gaige took a hand from Emily’s waist and touched her face. “This is where trust begins. I’m not going to just start telling you things. That’s something you have to earn.”
“Okay,” Emily said. “Okay. I trust you then.”
Emily opened her hands, showing her trust by not gripping the rail. It was just Gaige holding her steady with one hand to keep her from falling. The odd part was that she had a sensation running through her body that she was falling. She slowly lifted her left hand and placed it over Gaige’s hand. She gripped Gaige’s hand and had the sudden urge to kiss him. The need to feel protected and to be held ran rampant in her body. Bullets had been flying, bodies falling, and all Emily wanted to savor some kind of reassurance that it wouldn’t be her next to fall dead at the hands of an angry biker. And the only way to come close to ensuring that was to have a biker protect her.
